In this section I am currently developing some mini
biographies of folk from the family tree.

Walter Godwin (1842-1925) and Ellen Unsworth
(1845-1913)

Walter was born in Longdon by Lichfield in 1842, he was
christened at St Mary Church in Stafford on 23rd March 1842. Ellen
Unsworth was born in Frodsham in the district of Runcorn on July 18th
1845 (Cert CM 353802). Her parents were Elizabeth Unsworth (formerly
Young) and William Unsworth, who gave his trade as a painter.

In 1861,
the census shows that Walter was a 19 year old butcher apprentice
lodging with his master butcher at 10 Bridge Street in the Castle Church
district of Stafford.

Five years later, Walter and Ellen Unsworth were married in the parish
of Guilden Sutton near Chester on May 21st 1866. They both gave their
residence as Guilden Sutton at the time and Walter gave his trade as a
butcher. The witnesses were Peter Hughes and Margaret Morris. On the
certificate Walter's father William Nethersole Godwin gave his trade as
a shoemaker and Ellen's father was William Unsworth who gave his trade
as a plumber.

In the 1881 census, Walter and his family were recorded as
living at 9 William Street in Salford. This whole district has been
redeveloped and although some of William Street still exists, running
parallel to Trinity Way, there are no houses there. His job was recorded
as a Carter.

In 1891, Walter was
living at 3 Queens Place, still in the
Islington district of Salford. He is a 49 year old carter and Ellen was
46. 14 year old Clara, who had been born in Crewe was a
confectioner. The four boys present were 13 year old Thomas, 11 year old
Charles and the 8 year old twins Walter Frederick and William
Nethersole; all the boys were scholars.

In the 1901 census, Walter and Ellen had moved home
across Chapel Street, to 10a
Islington Street
(see top left picture of Islington Street, original is in Salford Local
History Library). At this time Walter was
59 and Ellen 56, he gave his profession as a "Railway Porter Goods". I
visited what's left of Islington Street, the railway runs nearby to
Salford Central Station. There is no trace of the original street and I
suspect that the new Islington Street isn't exactly where the old one
was, the area is now site to some very run down flats.

Also recorded on the census was son Charles, now 21 and
recorded as a "Machine Shop Labourer". Also present was Walter Frederick
Godwin (known as Uncle Tot to my Great Auntie Sally), he was 18 years
old, and like his father, was recorded as a "Railway Porter Goods".

A Walter Godwin died in Salford in 1907 age 6 months, death certificate (Vol
8d page 12). He is buried with 2 year old Ellen Godwin who was buried on
June 17th, 1910.

While looking for a record of the burial of Ellen
Godwin in the Salford
Reporter, I stumbled across a disaster in the Godwin family. The
funerals of 3 Godwin infants within a fortnight at 22 Islington Street,
see the grave details below for January 1914. On September 7th 1906, Mary Ireland
of Schofield St, Salford purchased grave plot G 713 at
Weaste Cemetery in Salford.

I am not sure who all the parents
were at this stage . The few yellow roses on the ground to the right of centre mark
the site of the burial which has no stone. You will notice the damage to
the surrounding stones, the site was bombed during WWII by the Luftwaffe
aiming for the nearby docks, any headstone and associated information
may have been lost then.

Those buried in the grave are as follows:

Name Age
Buried

Samuel Broadbent Ireland 33 Sep 10 1906

(Husband of Mary Pierce
Ireland, nee Hughes, he was killed in by a horse in Salford or Prestwich)

(Probably William Nethersole Godwin
although Salford Reporter gives death address as 22 Islington Street,
not 3 Sidney Street as per
1911 census b. 10th April 1910 to Eliza Annie Godwin nee Hughes
and William Nethersole Godwin, son of Thomas.)

David Hughes 51
July 16 1913

(Died at 5 Schofield
Street, Salford 10.07.13 from acute diarrhoea and capillary bronchitis,
Mary Pierce Godwin his daughter of 22 Islington Street was present with
him when he died. David was a Cloth Bleacher's Porter)

(Wife of David Hughes and
mother of Mary Pierce Hughes/Ireland/Godwin)

Ellen died age 68 in Salford
on October 26th 1913 and is buried at Weaste cemetery in grave G385
(below). Walter died age 83 and was buried in the same grave on
June 27th 1925, but his name was not etched onto the stone. Also in this
plot, which was purchased by Charles Godwin of Ouse St Salford on
October 8th 1909, are Emily M Godwin age 28 (Charles' wife I think)
buried October 9th 1909 and 2 year old Emily Godwin (child of his second
marriage) who was buried on October 15th 1918.

While on the subject of
Weaste Cemetery, a 3rd
class grave number L247, was purchased by Emma Seddon of Mayor Street,
Pendleton on November 5th 1900. In the grave are a Walter and
an Ellen Godwin (6 months and 2 years respectively). I am unsure whether
these two children are related to my family tree, but because the
Christian names are that of my great great grandparents Walter and Ellen
Godwin, their parentage warrants further investigation.

This particular grave is on the fringe of the
cemetery and contains the following individuals:

Name Age
Buried

Taylor Vickers 45 Nov 6
1900

Walter Vickers 6 months
Nov 7 1904

Walter Godwin 1 month Jan
28 1907

Elsie Seddon 9 months
May 24 1909

Ellen Godwin 2 June
17 1910

Harold Goodwin 9 June
30 1921

Irene Ruddy 4 Feb
15 1930

Douglas Hayes 3 weeks
March 6 1930

Back to the Ellen and Walter Godwin biography...

Children

1 Hester Ellen Godwin born 1866 in
(Great/Little?) Barrow, Cheshire. What happened to Hester isn't certain.
A Hester Ellen Godwin married in Chorlton, Manchester in 1890, but
without seeing the marriage certificate, I don't know whether it is the
same woman or who she married. There is no trace of a Hester Ellen in
the following years census or in subsequent years. On checking deaths
registered in Chorlton in 1890, I found a record of the death of a
Hester Ellen Butler.

2 Sarah Elizabeth Godwin 1868 born Grappenhall,
Warrington, Cheshire. In 1890, when Sarah was 22, she married William
Henry Moss in Salford. William was born in Salford in 1857/58. They had
the following children: Ellen Moss born 1896 in Salford, Florence Moss born 1898
in Salford and Hilda Moss born 1900 also in Salford.

3
Martha Godwin 1870? born Grappenhall, Cheshire. In 1901 Martha was
married to 32 year old Cockfield in Suffolk born iron miller, Harry Bradley
at 61 Lawrence Road in Altrincham. She had living with her at the time
her sister Clara Godwin, Clara was working as a Monthly Nurse. Martha and Harry had three children at the address, Charles
H. Bradley age 7, Elizabeth E. Bradley age 6 and Walter Bradley who was 3. All the children were
recorded as having been born in Manchester, Lancashire.
http://fp.raylong.plus.com/beleigh/d6.html is a possible Bradley
history link.

3 Clara Godwin born in Crewe 1877.
Clara died in 41 Lock Road, Altrincham,
Cheshire on 18 3 1958, she was 81. Occupation: Confectioner (1891),
Monthly Nurse (1901). You can see her will
here.

5 Thomas Godwin born 1878 in Salford Greengate district
(cert GRE/124/83). This chap is my paternal great grandfather, his
biography is set out below.

5 Charles Godwin born 1880 in Salford Greengate district
(Cert GRE/129/82), he married Emily Mary Higginson at St Philip in
Salford in 1908 (Cert C35/5/402). Emily Mary Godwin died on October 5th
1909 age 28 years. Charles remarried an Emily, their two year old
daughter died on October 11th 1918 and was buried in the same
grave. Freebmd shows an Emily
Mary Higginson born in Runcorn in 1879 could have been his wife.

6 Walter Frederick Godwin born a twin September 1882 in
Salford. In 1901, his occupation was listed as a Railway Porter like his
father. In 1905, William married Margaret Christina Dodd in
Salford.

7 William
Nethersole Godwin was born a twin in September 1882 in Salford. In
1901 he gave his profession as a bakers van driver. In 1905when he was 23, he married Elsie Annie
Hughes in Salford. In 1911 he was a Railway Goods Porter according to
the
census.

In 1908 at St Mary church in Salford,
Thomas married Mary Ireland (Cert C35/5/367). Mary was nee Hughes, her sister Eliza married
Thomas' brother William Nethersole Godwin - the two Hughes sisters had married two
of the Godwin brothers. Mary was a widow, she had married previously one Samuel Broadbent
Ireland at the same church in 1905 (cert C35/5/216). On
www.freebmd.co.uk I learned that Samuel died the following year age 33,
his death was registered in the nearby town of Prestwich in the period
between July and September of 1906. Samuel would have been William
Nethersole Godwin's brother-in-law during the brief duration of the
marriage.

In 1891, 31 year old
David Hughes (Mary P Hughes' father) was a Carter living at 7 Wickham Street in
the Islington ward of Salford. David gave his
birthplace as Chester in Cheshire, his wife Sarah was 29, she gave her
birthplace as Manchester in Lancashire. Alice A Hughes was 1, was Mary P
Hughes was 5, Alan was 8 and Elizabeth A Hughes was either 10 or 16 and
down as a scholar.

Later, Thomas Godwin entered the Army Service Corps
and fought in France during the first world war. His service number was Dvr T2/SR/03557. Translated, I think that means Driver, Transport 2,
Service Regiment, number 03557. His first theatre of war in the
Great War was
France in September 1915. There
are four Godwin records on the document, the top left one is my great
grandfather's; click the picture below to see the record.

I have two of his three medals which
are the
Victory, the Star and the British. Sadly one is missing.

More military record scans here:
Railway Reference for the Great War call up
frontback

His Short Service Enlistment document
states that he served in the Lancashire Militia Artillery, I am
currently looking further into this.

Here's a mystery: I am not sure what
happened to Thomas in 1901 as I can't find him for sure in the 1901
census. Maybe he was with the Lancashire Militia in the Boer War? It would appear that a 20 year old Thomas Godwin of 10a
Islington Street (right name, age and address) married a Jane Eliza Biermann in 1898 at Salford registry office on Valentines day. In the 1901 census, I found a Thomas Godwin who was
23 at the time, lodging with his wife Eliza at 22a Clarence Street in
the Hulme St Georges district of south Manchester. He was working as a
Carter for Oil Works.

If this is the same Thomas Godwin (in the census
he gives his birthplace as Salford in 1878 which tallies) then it would
appear that he had been married before his marriage to Mary Pierce
Ireland. Problem is in 1878 the marriage certificate records his
father's name as Thomas when it should have been Walter and I do not know what happened to
this first marriage. My grandfather who married Mary is 1908 is recorded
as being a bachelor. Bigamy? I can find no record of the death of an Eliza or
Jane Godwin between the date of the 1901 census record and his
subsequent marriage to Mary in 1908 so no clue there.

Jane Eliza gave her father's name as Carl Biermann who was a butcher,
there is something else here in brackets which is hard to read. Thomas' father's occupation is recorded as a
Liveryman, the witnesses were John Fearnshaw and Susan Biermann - if
my interpretation of their signatures is correct!

Thomas gave his address as 10a
Islington Street, the same address as his parents Walter and Ellen
Godwin - so surely it is the same Thomas and the father's first name is
a mistake? Jane Eliza gives her address as 66 West Street, Salford and
in the 1901 census she states her birthplace as Lancashire, Manchester.
This may be recorded as Rochdale in an earlier census if my memory
serves me well, I need to check.

Thomas died in the presence of his
wife at their home 2 Irwell Terrace in Salford on December 27th 1927 of
pulmonary tuberculosis. His death certificate shows records his
occupation as a Railway Liveryman Army Pensioner. He was 49 years old.
He is buried in Weaste cemetery in plot J4079, but there is no stone.
Next to this grave is J4080 which according to the Council is also
buried a Godwin.

Mary was affectionately known as Polly.
Here is the 1911 Census image showing Thomas, Mary and their
daughter Mary boarding at Sidney Sidney Street with Thomas' brother
William Nethersole Godwin's family.

My father recalls a childhood memory of
Polly, he tells me he was embarrassed when once his grandmother lifted
her large, layered dress up in a corner shop to access her purse! The
two Hughes sisters used to work/run a chip shop on Mason Street in
Salford which is also
no longer there.

Children:

1
Mary Godwin Born March 1913, Salford

2 Thomas Robert Godwin Born
11th Feb 1915, died in Swinton,
Salford on 20th February 1974 age 59. He married Gladys Knibb who was born in
Liverpool on August 6th 1918, she died on February 5th 1969. Both were cremated at Patricroft in Salford and are recorded in the Book of Remembrance there
on the date of Thomas's death. They had one son, Raymond Arthur Godwin who was
born in 1942 in Prescott, Liverpool.

3 Alice Godwin Born September
1920, died November 1988 and was cremated at Agecroft
in Salford.

I have a family portrait of the three children and
their parents in sepia tones that I will scan and publish here in the
future.